1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a process for producing baked potato slices with expanded texture similar to fried potato chips.
2. Description of Related Art
Snack foods such as potato chips are popular consumer items for which there exists a great demand. Potato chips are prepared by cooking slices of whole potatoes. One prior art method of cooking the potato slices involves immersing, the raw potato slices in a hot oil bath, which is otherwise known as “frying” the potato slices. Fried potato slices are referred to herein as “fried potato chips.”
Fried potato chips have a light, crispy and expanded texture that is desired by consumers. This desirable texture is imparted into the fried potato chips because placing the raw potato slices into the hot oil bath causes moisture to quickly escape from the interior of the potato slice, thereby expanding the texture of the potato starch. This light, crispy, expanded texture is one of the main reasons fried potato chips are such a popular consumer item,
In recent years, consumer demand has been dramatically increasing for healthy foods in general, and healthy snack foods in particular. In many consumers' minds, fried potato chips do not qualify as a healthy snack food because oil is absorbed by the chip during the frying process. Consequently, the nutrition label affixed to bags of fried potato chips will typically indicate a fat content per serving that is above what some consumers find acceptable.
One healthy alternative to fried potato chips is baked potato chips. Baked potato chips in the prior art are generally made by baking raw potato slices in a hot air oven, or a combination of microwave; infra-red and hot air oven. These baked potato chips do contain less oil than fried potato chips, but their texture lacks some of the light, crispy, expanded qualities of fried potato chips.
No prior art process has been successful in creating a potato chip that has not been fried, but that still has the desirable light, crispy, expanded texture of a fried potato chip.